On the Ground in Cancun: Will the Regions Save Us?

Delegates at the U.N. Climate Conference in Cancun Mexico are still haggling over the same sticking points that prevented an agreement a year ago in Copenhagen: who is going to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions how much by when, and who’s going to pay for it all.

Meanwhile, a glimmer of hope may be showing up in a growing number of efforts to cut emissions at the regional level.

Earlier today, I attended a panel discussion with representatives of the three regional greenhouse gas reduction initiatives in the U.S.

There was one rep from Illinois, a fellow named Doug Scott. He represents a group of six states and one Canadian province that’s trying to do something similar to the Western Climate Initiative, here on the west coast. He noted that the states in his group tend to be more politically conservative than the states in the Western Climate Initiative. And he says some of them aren’t even mainly motivated by concern about global warming. It’s the economic benefits that are getting them on board.

“If you do those things, the energy efficiency programs, you’re going to get the benefits from doing that,” he says. “And if that’s done because you want to have energy independence, or you want to promote green jobs, it doesn’t matter. You’re still doing the work and you’re still getting the (greenhouse gas) reductions.”

In addition to Scott’s group — the Midwest Greenhouse Gas Reduction Accord — and the Western Climate Initiative, there’s also group of ten states on the East Coast that has a cap and trade system for power producers. It’s called the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. Between them, these three regional efforts involve 23 states and four Canadian provinces. And those areas account for half of the US economy and three quarters of the Canadian economy.

About This Blog

I'm Liam Moriarty.

I’m a veteran journalist in news- papers, magazines, public radio and on the web. I have dual US/EU citizenship and I divide my time between Seattle and Normandy, France.

The more I report on climate change, energy, transportation, resource consumption and related issues, the more I see connections and commonalities between how Europeans are tackling these problems and how we’re going about it in the Pacific Northwest.

This blog is my effort to connect those dots in ways that might help us all find ways of living that leave a green, healthy planet for our grandchildren.

To learn more about me and my work, please visit www.liammoriarty.com.

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